Commercial product marking standards exist in industries such as automotive, defense, medical, and electronics in applications where traceability is considered desirable. These standards are part of endeavors to ensure that traceable identifying marks are suitable for process control in the relevant applications. Examples of marking systems include data matrix codes such as Department of Defense Standard Practice Identification Marking (MIL-STD-130M), Data Matrix ECC200, MicroPDF417, and EIA802. These and possibly other marking conventions provide message format and syntax rules useful for two-dimensional encoding and marking at a relatively small scale. For example, technology known in the art is capable of making and reading markings with a single cell as small as about 191 μm on a side. Data matrixes made up of individual cells are somewhat larger, depending upon the number of cells used in the particular matrix coding scheme. Using the ECC200 format, for example, a data matrix capable of encoding 6 numeric characters includes 10 rows of cells in 10 columns, with a 191 μm cell size, would provide a total matrix area footprint of approximately 1910 μm by 1910 μm. Efforts to reduce the area required for matrix data marking are faced with several technical challenges. The markings must be permanent, reliably readable in a field environment, and should ideally include measures to reduce the potential for mismarking and/or misreading. Additionally, in some applications, such as implantable medical devices, the markings must be biocompatible, resistant to deterioration in a biological/chemical environment, and must not cause damage to surrounding biological materials.
Thus, the present state of the art presents problems in terms not only of matrix data marking size, but also other physical characteristics. Due to these and other problems and potential problems with the current state of the art, improved micro matrix data marking and reading apparatus, systems, and methods would be useful and advantageous in the arts.